My cleaning lady is spoiled!

I have someone come to clean every 2 weeks. I pay $15.00 per hour with a 3 hour minimum.

Since she's been coming, she's never once been here 3 hours: In fact she is usually finished within 75 to 90 minutes but I pay her for 3 hours.

For some reason she doesn't do anything in the kitchen other than the floor. I haven't said anything because I don't usually mind washing up a few dishes if there are any in the sink.

However I've been having a lot of pain in my ankles and foot this week due to the humidity and rain, and it's been a busy week at work that involved lots of walking so it's taken it's toll! Today is my only day off and I had to go grocery shopping and by the time I got home I could hardly walk so I decided to just leave the dishes for her so I could concentrate on other things like laundry that doesn't involve much standing.

She had been here 1 hour by the time I told her that I would leave the dishes for her to do. OMG! You should have heard her!! She gave me such flack because I asked her to do something out of the ordinary! The dishes were sitting rinsed in the sink and all fit into one drain rack once washed.

I politely reminded her that I pay her for 3 hours and that she is usually only here for 1/2 that time and sometimes less than that.

I hate to hear what she says when I ask her to clean out the fridge or the oven on one of the days that she comes! And she knows I will because we discussed that before I hired her.

Yeah, that's not cool. She should not expect to get paid for time she hasn't worked, she should expect to have to make that time up!

Does she know exactly what she has to do in the place though, and is it in writing?, because a couple of people i know who have cleaners don't do things like cleaning out the fridge or oven?. It's just vacuuming, polishing and cleaning the bathroom, and one does a bit ironing as well.

I must say though, theres no way i would clean anyone elses oven I hate doing my own at the best of times

Originally Posted by Rosiemac

Does she know exactly what she has to do in the place though

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Yes, she does. We discussed it all at the beginning.

Originally Posted by Rosiemac

Does she know exactly what she has to do in the place though, and is it in writing?, because a couple of people i know who have cleaners don't do things like cleaning out the fridge or oven?. It's just vacuuming, polishing and cleaning the bathroom, and one does a bit ironing as well.

I must say though, theres no way i would clean anyone elses oven

I hate doing my own at the best of times

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This made ! There are house keepers or hired cleaners that refuse to clean refrigerators, ovens, and I can only imagine what else, as a prerequisite? Then how the heck are you suppose to trust their cleaning (disinfectant) skills in your bathrooms, floors, sinks? For real, they are unwilling to clean an oven, but supposedly clean your toilets and baths properly??!!! They won't wash your dishes, but supposedly clean your counters and sinks properly?!
The faster they finish cleaning your home, the less they are actually cleaning.

Does she do 3 hours worth of work in 1.5? If so, I wouldn't call her spoiled.

My mom was a cleaning lady and once someone told her that money was practically handed to her on a silver platter. I saw how hard my mom worked, so it irks me when people say stuff like that about their cleaning staff.

On the other hand, if you think she's not doing the amount of work she's being paid to do... I wouldn't take any flack from her. I'd just replace her.

Yep I would say she is spoiled.
If I were you I would sit down and make a list of all the chores that you have hired her specifically to do.
Go over it with her so there is no misunderstandings about what her duties are and then make it clear that since you are paying her for 3 hours worth of work, you expect her to be there for 3 hours.
Most employers wouldn't look kindly on their workers taking off halfway throw their shift.
If she doesn't like it remember with the way the economy is today there are dozens of people who would be more then happy to take over her job.

Sounds like you should look for someone new.

Originally Posted by Going Nova

On the other hand, if you think she's not doing the amount of work she's being paid to do... I wouldn't take any flack from her. I'd just replace her.

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She doesn't and I'm trying!! I may end up hiring just a professional cleaning company instead of someone private. I have to call around and ask about prices.

Don't get me wrong! I don't mind paying her for 3 hours if she finishes earlier. In fact I was the one who insisted on the minimum 3 hour rate because I thought (and still do) think that it is a fair rate.

However, she's come to take it for granted that she will come here and be done in an hour every single time. Plus I have noticed that she doesn't even do a complete job.

She doesn't dust the bedroom. The only thing she does in there is vacuum and mop the floor and she won't even vacuum inside the closets (the doors stay open for the cats so there is nothing to do but stick the vacuum head in there and suck up the cat hair tumbleweeds, which are visible from outside the closets.

When she washes the tub she wasn't even moving the bath tub flower suction sticky things on the bottom. She washed around them. I use a bath chair in the shower. She doesn't wash the chair. I discovered that a couple of weeks ago and spent 1/2 an hour getting months of caked on soap scum off the legs and back. She doesn't do the shower tiles or ceramic tile soap dishes at all. They were both dull and caked with soap scum. I don't expect her to wash all of the shower tiles, but at least the last few rows near the top of the tub that are constantly getting splashed with soap and water (I even have one of those reachy pole things with scrubby pads). Since I discovered that I've now been using my body wash puff on the tiles before I get out of the shower. I also discovered that she doesn't vacuum or wash under the vanity or behind the toilet! My vanity is weird. It sits about 5 inches above the floor on a rounded V shaped pedestal with the vanity hanging over the edges. You can see the entire pedestal edge when you are standing up. Cleaning under the vanity is not difficult to do. It's just a matter of reaching with the vacuum head. I end up having to drag out the vacuum or the broom and do it myself after she is gone.

Despite my insisting that I want things moved off the tables when she windexes my glass tables and dusts, she just windexes and dusts around things. She doesn't dust the tops of the pictures (using one of those Swiffer Dusters) as I've asked her. So again, after she leaves I take the Swiffer and have to do it myself. Amazing how much dust and cat hair accumulate on top of pictures in a 2 week period.

And there have been times where she has forgotten to vacuum the furniture or area rug before putting the vacuum away. And instead of pulling out the vacuum again she says "I'll do it the next time I'm here." The next time is 2 weeks later!! My apartment is very dusty and I have 2 cats, one of which sheds terribly, so a month without vacuuming the furniture or rug is a really long time and by the end of 2 weeks my allergies are really acting up. So I end up doing it over a period of a couple of days because vacuuming is so hard on my back..which is why I pay someone to do it for me.

I used to do cleaning for a living, so I know what is involved. Also my brother has someone clean his 2 bedroom house every 2 weeks, and the woman he hired told him what cleaning services she will do (including oven and fridge) and how much she expects to get paid. I made the exact same agreement with the girl I hired. And she agreed to it when she accepted the job. I've even asked some of the girls who work in housekeeping at work if I'm being fair with my rates and what I expect. I've been told "more than fair" especially when there is a 3 hour minimum. I told her flat out from the beginning that there will be days where she will be done much sooner than 3 hours, and that there are some days where she might have to spend the full 3 hours depending on what I would like done that week IE: fridge or oven.

The girl rushes through in order to get out as quickly as she can. Why spend 2 or 3 hours when you can hurry through and get paid the same for getting it done in an hour?

When I asked her to do the dishes up today, she had only been here 1 hour and she complained and complained about how she wanted to get done and get home etc. etc.

Adding the dishes to the list today added about 15 minutes or less to her time here. She was still gone in under 2 hours and that included her sitting for about 20 minutes to eat her lunch which I'm more than fine with her doing. After all she comes here after her regular job which ends around lunch time.

So when I say that she is spoiled, I mean it. She is. Until today I haven't asked her to do anything beyond what she has been doing, which isn't even a complete job based on what I told you above.

However, at this point I'm not going to fight her on it. I'm just going to step up my search for someone else. The one thing I can say about her is that she's reliable and what she does clean, she seems to do a good job doing.

I really need to learn how to speak up

Not spoiled, but rude as heck!

Instead of listing all of her shortcomings here, why don't you sit down with her and discuss the matter? I think that will yield better results.

I would hardly call someone who cleans up after others "spoiled". It's hard work not everyone is willing to do.

Originally Posted by clixpix

I would hardly call someone who cleans up after others "spoiled". It's hard work not everyone is willing to do.

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Yes it is hard work.

However, people seem to be misunderstand the term "spoiled." I didn't state that the work was easy. I stated that she's come to expect that she will be here only 1 hour and get paid for 3 and has started to complain about doing additional things IE: dishes, which were discussed prior to her being hired, because I haven't until today asked her to do anything additional. And it's not like I asked her to pull out the fridge or wash walls! It was a dish rack of dishes (1 pot, 1 fry pan, 1 casserole dish, 3 bowls, 2 plates, a couple of glasses and some cutlery). The dishes had even been rinsed and nothing had to be scraped or scrubbed. Now I could see a reason to complain if every dish, utensil, pot, glass and cup that I owned were piled high and covered with rotten food or mould growing in them or something.

Like I said, I used to clean houses for a living at one time. I know what the work is like. And I also know that I got paid way less than she is getting paid, and I was doing 4 times the work that I'm expecting her to do. I also didn't have a minimum. If I worked 1 hour, I got paid for 1 hour.

I'm not going to talk to her about it. She wasn't my first choice to hire. The girl I had initially hired was to start in January but she got hurt at her other job in December. So I needed someone in the interim and hired this girl. She knew at the time it was only temporary. However, by the time the other girl was able to get back to work (March or April), her work had changed her schedule and she didn't have the time during the day anymore.

So I ended up hiring this girl permanently.

Originally Posted by clixpix

Instead of listing all of her shortcomings here, why don't you sit down with her and discuss the matter? I think that will yield better results.

I would hardly call someone who cleans up after others "spoiled". It's hard work not everyone is willing to do.

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I think she was simply looking for advice as to how to approach the situation without coming off as an insensitive employer.
Cleaning up after and/or serving others is what every employed persons career is based on.

Originally Posted by cheylink

I think she was simply looking for advice as to how to approach the situation without coming off as an insensitive employer.

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Thanks for understanding

I'm not good with confrontation, which is why I don't like to be in a management position.

See, when she first started, she was supposed to be doing the dishes every time. However, my kitchen counter was a complete disaster zone and cluttered with all kinds of stuff that I was trying to find a place for or throw out/give away plus I was in the middle of putting away groceries. So I had told her "Don't worry about the dishes or wiping the kitchen counter this time because my counter and sink area is really cluttered today."

From that day on she only set foot into the kitchen to do the floor. I've tried to be tactful and drop hints....but they just weren't getting through.

Today being my only day off, I wanted time to rest a bit because my back was sore and my ankles and foot were aching so bad that I could hardly walk. So I just couldn't stand to do the dishes and said to her "Would you mind doing the dishes today? I'm having some pain issues and would rather not have to stand and walk more than I have to today because I have to be back at work tomorrow."

She responded by saying "I don't know how you manage to work if you can't even do your own dishes!" I told her it's called "Finding a balance and being able to sit down when I need to rest, and I do that when I'm charting or having discussions with my patients." She replied "Maybe I should get a job as a nurse so I can sit down all of the time!"

So when I say she gave me flack, she seriously did.

I used to work for a cleaning service. I personally think the womans behavior is ridiculous and you need to put a stop to it. When I saw the list of things she doesn't do...I couldn't help but think why does it even take her an hour. You hired her to clean and she isn't doing it. You need to sit down with her and make a list of her weekly chores or fire her. She's not even dusting the bedrooms for crying out loud!!!! Even a very very basic cleaning service should dust all rooms, clean all bathrooms, sweep & mop or vacuum all floors, wipe off the kitchen appliances and handle the dishes. And the nerve of that girl saying that she doesn't know how you are able to work if you can't even do your own dishes!!!! She better be glad she doesn't work for me...cause I would have told her off and fired her on the spot. I read some posts on this thread where people where talking about how hard people like her work.....well, people LIKE her might work hard, but she darn sure doesn't. I think she is taking advantage of your kindness. You hired her to do a job and she isn't doing it....it's as simple as that. You must have a talk with her and get her to start doing HER JOB or fire her. You would darn sure be fired from your job if you only did half a med pass because you wanted to leave work early.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Thanks for understanding

I'm not good with confrontation, which is why I don't like to be in a management position.

See, when she first started, she was supposed to be doing the dishes every time. However, my kitchen counter was a complete disaster zone and cluttered with all kinds of stuff that I was trying to find a place for or throw out/give away plus I was in the middle of putting away groceries. So I had told her "Don't worry about the dishes or wiping the kitchen counter this time because my counter and sink area is really cluttered today."

From that day on she only set foot into the kitchen to do the floor. I've tried to be tactful and drop hints....but they just weren't getting through.

Today being my only day off, I wanted time to rest a bit because my back was sore and my ankles and foot were aching so bad that I could hardly walk. So I just couldn't stand to do the dishes and said to her "Would you mind doing the dishes today? I'm having some pain issues and would rather not have to stand and walk more than I have to today because I have to be back at work tomorrow."

She responded by saying "I don't know how you manage to work if you can't even do your own dishes!"

I told her it's called "Fiinding a balance and being able to sit down when I need to rest, and I do that when I'm charting or having discussions with my patients." She replied "Maybe I should get a job as a nurse so I can sit down all of the time!"

So when I say she gave me flack, she seriously did.

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I am shocked that she would have the balls to respond to you in such a belligerent manner, and then insult your intelligence and occupation. I don't know if spoiled is the correct term..... more like rude, defensive, and out of line.
If she is unwilling to clean dishes, she would never be able to be a nurse!

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

She responded by saying "I don't know how you manage to work if you can't even do your own dishes!"

I told her it's called "Finding a balance and being able to sit down when I need to rest, and I do that when I'm charting or having discussions with my patients." She replied "Maybe I should get a job as a nurse so I can sit down all of the time!"

So when I say she gave me flack, she seriously did.

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I would probably have told her that's what you're paying her for and if she doesn't want to do it, then she doesn't have to come by and you can keep your money for yourself. I used to just stay quiet, but people would walk all over me. I think, you ought to just tell her like you told us. If anyone should feel uncomfortable about it, it should be her.

Originally Posted by sandy2u1

I read some posts on this thread where people where talking about how hard people like her work.....well, people LIKE her might work hard, but she darn sure doesn't.

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I hope I'm not one of those people you're referring to because that isn't what I said.

Originally Posted by sandy2u1

You must have a talk with her and get her to start doing HER JOB or fire her. You would darn sure be fired from your job if you only did half a med pass because you wanted to leave work early.

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I sure would. Ironically I want to leave work early today so I can meet a friend from high school for an early coffee and dinner. However, if I'm able to, I plan on missing my coffee break and lunch in order to do so.

You seem pretty forward! How about you coming here and telling her?!

If she was more approachable I wouldn't have a problem talking to her. But she's very confrontational .

I know that I've been letting her take advantage of me. And that upsets me. But she can be very aggressive and I have a very difficult time dealing with that type of behaviour towards me.

If she reacted this way when I asked her to do a few dishes, which she is supposed to be doing anyway, I can't even imagine the scene she would make if I told her at this point that she is leaving things 1/2 undone.

I'll give it some thought. I may just step up my search for someone else. I've seen a couple girls at work in housekeeping who do a fabulous job, but unfortunately they work shift work like me. I'll ask if any of them know someone who would be interested.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I sure would. Ironically I want to leave work early today so I can meet a friend from high school for an early coffee and dinner. However, if I'm able to, I plan on missing my coffee break and lunch in order to do so.

You seem pretty forward! How about you coming here and telling her?!

If she was more approachable I wouldn't have a problem talking to her. But she's very confrontational

.

I know that I've been letting her take advantage of me. And that upsets me. But she can be very aggressive and I have a very difficult time dealing with that type of behaviour towards me.

If she reacted this way when I asked her to do a few dishes, which she is supposed to be doing anyway, I can't even imagine the scene she would make if I told her at this point that she is leaving things 1/2 undone.

I'll give it some thought. I may just step up my search for someone else. I've seen a couple girls at work in housekeeping who do a fabulous job, but unfortunately they work shift work like me. I'll ask if any of them know someone who would be interested.

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Seriously, I would have fired her on the spot for those insulting remarks.

You are paying good money to have come and work for you, she needs to respect that fact and do what you both agreed upon. Personally, I think dishes are one of the easier tasks in housecleaning.

Time to start looking for another cleaning lady....now. You are obviously unhappy with her service, and her attitude needs some adjusting....she is definately not someone I would hire. You are wasting your hard earned money.... you've already said she is paid a 3hr minimum, and most times she's there for an hour -1 1/2hrs..... so she's getting an hourly rate of $45 I know people who have gone to school in skilled trades that don't even get that much, and they DO THEIR FULL JOB.

Seriously, start looking for someone else, start calling people, arranging interviews, etc. When you find someone you like, be nice and give this girl some notice (just cuz I think that is the polite thing to do) and hopefully ease this burden from your life.